Torpedo-shield for vessels.



J. O. TRAVELSTEAD.

TORPEDO SHIELD FOR VESSELS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. l4, I916.

1,223,536. 7 Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 v INVENTOR Wk Qfia'wlakad,

BY W

501m 0. msivmsmiin, on seminnn'roiv, OREGON.

Tempo-semen FDR vnssnns.

, Specification of Letters Patent. 7 Patented Apr. 24, 11Z'.

-' zipplication filed October 14, ieie; Serial no. 125,675.

To ail whom/it may cm'wem; v Be it known that I, .JOHN 0. TRAVEL- sTnAo, 2. citizen of the United States, resid-,

;' ing at Pendletominthe county of Umstilla Shields for Vessels, of which the following ernily of the sides of vessel and in spaced r main shields and State ofOi egon, have invented oertz in new, and useful Improvements in .Forpedois a. specification. v I

This ingention has reference generally to improvements in guards 1 01 vessels, end more particularly relates to a torpedo shield for; vessels. v x

As the primary aim-end object, this inventioii contemplates the provision; of novel means for supporting reticulated means latnovel ineens acting in conjunction with the booms for shifting an of the booms simultaneously toward either end of the -vessel, when desired, so that the guard may be subsequently raised to lie in close relation with the sides of the vessel.

The invention also includes the piiovision of novel means for reising and lowering the booms to consequently hold the shield in various adjusted positions.

-More particularly, the present invention embraces the provision of novel 'foldable shield sections for iise'etthe bow and stern ends of the vessel and for cooperating with the main shields fors'efie'ctively gualrding 'the vesseh'suid sections being arranged so esto beopernted by As a further object the inventio has to provide novel nieens for 'bracingfthe supports at the bo v dnd stern ends of 'thev'essel for increasing the rigidity of the'siipport vwith.iesp'ect to-thevessel.

. .lmong' the other invention may be recited the provision of a device of the character mentioned With a the shifting means for the aims and objects of the View to compactness, and lIlWhlGh the num the cost of production low, end the efficiency high.

1 Other improvements and novel details in the construction and arrangement of the various parts of the device, Will be brought I out more in detail in the description to follow, which for a clear understanding of the invention, should be considered in connection W th the accompanying drawings, forniinga. part-hereof, and wherein is disclosed for the purpose of illustration, a convenient and satisfactory embodiment of the 111V6I1 tion. 113 18 to be noted, in this connection,

vthat minor changes in the construction and arrangement of the ports'iiiziy be made with- '70 out departing fromth'e spirit of the invenl tion, or the priiicipleof operation :of the various parts.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is clearly illustrated in the accoinpanying drawings, in which: v

Figure 1, is a fragiiieiitziry side elevation of nay-invention.

Fig. 2, is a top plan thereof.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section showing the so invention in a lowered oroperative position.

Fig. l, is a perspective detuihand Fig. 5, is a, fragmentary front elevation of f one of the collapsible shields.

Similar characters of. referenceere em- 35 ployed in. all of the above described views, 7

to ndicnte corresponding parts. v 1 Referring now, more particularly, to the accompanying drawings, I provide a vessel 1 and have connected at intervels along both sides thereof atpoints slightly below the Walter line of the vessel and at points adjacent the bottom of the vessel lOWS of brackets 2. Each of these brackets includes a base 3 and spaced ears 4.

A plurality of booms 5}2IIG]I10,W; provided and in order to connectithe' "booms so that they ma be swung vertically and laterally iof th'e sides of the vessel Teinploythe'plurelity of, securing elements 6, onefend of each; of "which is bifurcated as indioiit'edby the'iiumrall'sothat the inner end ofeech, N "booin they be pivotnlly connected theretoby ineans of ElSlllilttlJlG fastening device S,'While the opposite end of ca ch element Gtermihates in an eye 9, which is pivotally mounted be- 'e her of parts are few, the construction simple, 55.

uniformly spaced 90 1 tween the ears 4 of one of the brackets by means of a suitable pin 10. 'Rods 11 are .employed for connecting the upper booms to the lower booms. In the present instance, oneend of each rod terminates in a loop 12 and is arranged between bifurcated ends 13 of the lower boom 5 while the opposite or upper end of each rod has two loops l4 and 15 formed thereon, the former being receivapparent these cables 16 and 17 serve as a means for holding the rods 11 on. the booms so as to permit of pivotal movement of the parts. At this point it will be noted that the lower booms 5 extend downwardly at an angle from the side of the vessel when the upper booms are at right angles thereto being caused by the length of the rods 11 which is greater than the space between the upper and lower brackets'2. Main shields 18 are now provided and may be and preferably are of a reticulated character and include spaced longitudinally and transversely extending pieces which are interwoven to provide fabric structure. Upon reference to Fig. 4 it will be noted that the transversely extending pieces 19 have their outer ends looped as at 20 and engaged about the cables 16 and 17 between which the fabric shields are arranged.

For the purpose of providing suitable means for supporting the guards at the bow and stern ends of the vessel, I have provided my improved supports 21 the inner ends of eachv of which are bifurcated to provide diverging arms 22 which are secured to the opposite sides of the vessel at the bow and stern ends thereof and at points slightly above the water line by meansof suitable fastening devices 23. The supports project fore and aft from the vessel and have their outer ends constructed to form oppositely extending arms 2%. Suitable means for bracing the supports in the present instance consists of substantially V-shaped braces 25, each of which is arranged between the arms 24 while the upper brace is anchored as indicated by the numeral 26 to the top of the vesseland the lower brace is secured by means of a suitable fastening device 27 to the bottom of the vessel.

lotiperating with the main side shields 2 are my improved foldable shields designated each in its entirety by the numeral 28. These shields 28 are arranged in pairs and connected upon opposite sides of the support 21 at the bow and stern ends of the veswale of the vessel at uniformly spac looped and arranged to register with the.

outer looped ends of the upper and lower bars so that the looped ends of the mentioned bars may be engaged by the cables 16 and 17. It will now be apparent that inasmuch as the adjacent ends of the bars are pivoted to each other these auxiliary shields may be folded. Each of the bars 29 have a plurality of uniformly spaced eyes 32 formed thereon, and engageable with the eyes are the looped ends 33 of rods 34 which extend longitudinally and transversely. of

the auxiliary shields.

In order to shift all of the booms 5 latorally to either side so as to consequentl arrange the shields 18 in close relation wit the sides of the vessel and to also shift the auxiliary shields 28 in a corresponding di-' rection I have extended the respective ends of the cables 16 and '17 and arranged the said cables respectively through pu le 5 35 and 3G-mounted on the arms 24 and t ence extended the cables about drums 37 mounted at the top and at the bow'and stern ends of the vessel. Suitable means not shown, may be mounted at these points within the inside of the vessel for operating the cables.

In order to provide suitable means for raising and lowering the shields 18 and for holding them in vertically adjusted positions, I have provided chains 38 and arranged them along the top deck of the vessel adjacent the sides thereof. Auxiliary chain sections 39 extend from the main chains 38 and are trained about in the eyes 15 on the r s 11 and thence extended t0)\'illd and connected to the egunmtervals as indicated by the numeral 41. Both the main and auxiliary chain sections 38 and 39 operate about rollers 42 mounted at uniformly spaced intervals along the top deck adjacent the sides of the vessel, the

ulleys 40 mounted main sections 38 being finally passed through an opening 43 at the bow end of thevessel and connected with a suitably operating means (not shown) desirably positioned within the vessel.

For the purpose of raising and lowering the foldable shield to consequently either fold or extend the said shields, I have provided a plurality of chains 44. and connected one end of each to one side of the upper portionof one of the braces 25, the cable being trained about a pulley connected in an eye at formed on the upperend of each of the bars 29 of the foldable shield as indicated in Fig. The chain is now trained about one of the pulley Wheels 47 which is mounted in. an eye 50 on the side of the upper portion of one of the braces 25 and finally passed through the opening 43 in the deck and aria-urged for connection with the operating means for the chains 38.

With a view toward increasing the rigidity of the supports 21 with respect to upper portion of the braces 25 I have provided rods 51 and arranged one intermediate the ends of each'support Qland upper-brace portion 25. Y

The mode of operation of the present in vention may be reviewed as follows:

' As illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, theguard ill a lowered or operative position,

the shields 18 being arranged'in spaced parallel relation withthe sides of the vessel so as to protect the sides of the vessel, while the auxiliary shieldsoS are extended and protect the bow and stern ends of thevessel. Should it be desired to raise the shields the chains 38 are operated so as to consequentl y draw the shields 18 into a raised position above the water line.

of the auxiliary shields 28 to consequently fold the shields and finally the cables 16 and 17 are operated to move the booms 5 laterally to consequently ar 'ange theshields 18 in. closer-elation with the sides of the vessel. It to be understood that various adwidely different embrxliments'of this inven.

tion could be made without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims, it is intended that all matter coi'itained in the above description 'or shown in the accompanying drawings shall he inter 'n'eted illustrative and. not in a limiting sense. that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the gen oral and specific features of the invention herein described and set forth in the appended claims, which, as a matter of languagc might be said to fall therebctwecn. i Having thus described my invention What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent isz- 1. The con'ihinatimi with a vessel, supporting u'ieans extending substantially longitudinallv from the bow andstcrn ends of the ves- The chains 44: are also operated to raise the upper arms 29 It is also to be understood 5 T AVAlLABLE C ets connected to the sides of the vessel and i arranged in rows at points about the water line and adjacent the bottom of the vessel,

supporting, booms, connecting elements in ranged "between the booms and the brackets whereby the booms may be swung horizontally and vertically of the sides oi the vessel, protecting shields connected to thebooms, means for shifting the shields, and means for raising the shields.

3. The combination with a vessel, of rows of booms movablyconnected to the sides of the vessel, vertical rods arranged between the adjacent booms, cables connecting each of the booms and rods, protecting shields arranged between the booms and connected to the cables, means for shifting the shields laterally of the vessel, and means for raising the shields.

4. The combination with a. vessel, of sup for raising the foldable shields, and means for raising" the side shields.

5. The combination with a vessel, of sup ports extending longitudinzfily fromthe respective ends of the vessel? neans for bracing the supports on the yessel, means for bracing the bracing means on the supports, foldable shields connected to the supports and the portions of the bracing means heneath the water line, niain protecting shields movably connected to tho' sides of the vessel about the water line and cooperating with the foldable shields, means for raising the main shields, means for raising the foldable shields, means for shifting all of the shields, andincan's for guiding, the raising and shifting means during operation.

6. The combination with a vessel, supporting means extending substantially longitudinally from the bow and stern ends of ,the vessel, shield members supported by said supporting means and laterally extending from opposite sides thereof for protecting the ends of the vessel, other shields movably shields, said laterally extending shields be ing shiftable, means for effecting a horizontal folding movement of said laterally extending shields and for maintaining the latter in adjusted positions, and means for effecting a folding of said side shields to an inoperative position.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

J OHN O. TRAVELSTEAD.

\Vitnesses: v

FLOYD TRAVIZLSTEAD, MAUDE G. OWEN. 

